The Exchanges

Q Now, can you take us back to your early days entering the industry and how you made your move into technology and the investing game?

A Um, so in the technology game, I've been in Silicon Valley pretty much since. 99. So I moved here January third in 1999, you know, here, like everybody for the first dot com boom, because I thought I was going to get rich. Didn't quite work out, but, um, I, I spent two years at e-commerce startup raise quite a lot of money. Um, I was an early employee, ran their online marketing, um, as, as probably everybody did. I got laid off in 2001. And then, um, like everyone else scrambling For work, and then ended up at Yahoo, um, in 2001, sort of in the, sort of the downturn. So, 2001 in Silicon Valley was kind of horrible, and so I wasn't sure how long I was going to be staying in the tech industry, if I'm honest. Um, and then I ended up spending a good 10 and a half year run at Yahoo, which was great. So, had a, had a great time over there. And then, um, When I left Yahoo in 2012, beginning of 2012, I, you know, was lucky to have some sort of, I would say, some bank, um, and so I ended up just sort of doing angel investing, joined a bunch of boards, advisory boards, speaking at conferences, and really, if I'm not very honest, I just kind of goofing around and doing some angel investing and mentoring, um, and one of the, one of the sort of places I was mentoring, I was probably mentoring about 15 or 16 different startup accelerators across the globe, and one of them was five 500 start…

AI assessment note: “When I left Yahoo in 2012... I ended up just sort of doing angel investing”

Q And do you think that the whole industry is shifting to a much more operator-based model with, with your kind of Anderson Horace offering marketing teams to recruitment teams to HR teams? Do you think we are moving to this kind of service-based model as an extra value add of being the VC, going with that VC?

A I mean, it seems to, it seems to be that direction. I mean, like, you know, first round capital has, was an innovator in this. Um, you know, even 500 stars. We have almost close to, like, 80, 90 staff, and, you know, we have a team of almost 14 distribution, sort of, like, distribution in our terminologies, like, sort of, online marketing sales experts who help our companies and accelerator and, and, sort of, in the portfolio. I mean, this is a massive investment. So, you know, I would say, like, there's a traditional VC, like, the benchmark and the Excels, or the, um, you know, you go down the list of, like, the Mayfields and Greylocks, like, the traditional, sort of, these See, like, that model works really well, right? Um, but there's also sort of the new model, which is sort of these add-on services. Like, I think, like, we're in a world where, like, both, both of these can exist, and both of them sort of bring new stuff to the table, um, or bring good stuff to the table. So I don't think there's, you know, I don't know if there's, I've seen more of a trend in this direction, but I don't know if this is going to be the dominant model. It's still too early to tell.

AI assessment note: “I don't know if this is going to be the dominant model.”

Q Now, can you take us back to your early days entering the industry and how you made your move into technology and the investing game?

A Um, so in the technology game, I've been in Silicon Valley pretty much since. 99. So I moved here January third in 1999, you know, here, like everybody for the first dot com boom, because I thought I was going to get rich. Didn't quite work out, but, um, I, I spent two years at e-commerce startup raise quite a lot of money. Um, I was an early employee, ran their online marketing, um, as, as probably everybody did. I got laid off in 2001. And then, um, like everyone else scrambling For work, and then ended up at Yahoo, um, in 2001, sort of in the, sort of the downturn. So, 2001 in Silicon Valley was kind of horrible, and so I wasn't sure how long I was going to be staying in the tech industry, if I'm honest. Um, and then I ended up spending a good 10 and a half year run at Yahoo, which was great. So, had a, had a great time over there. And then, um, When I left Yahoo in 2012, beginning of 2012, I, you know, was lucky to have some sort of, I would say, some bank, um, and so I ended up just sort of doing angel investing, joined a bunch of boards, advisory boards, speaking at conferences, and really, if I'm not very honest, I just kind of goofing around and doing some angel investing and mentoring, um, and one of the, one of the sort of places I was mentoring, I was probably mentoring about 15 or 16 different startup accelerators across the globe, and one of them was five 500 start…

AI assessment note: “I moved here January third in 1999... ended up just sort of doing angel investing”

Q And do you think that the whole industry is shifting to a much more operator-based model with, with your kind of Anderson Horace offering marketing teams to recruitment teams to HR teams? Do you think we are moving to this kind of service-based model as an extra value add of being the VC, going with that VC?

A I mean, it seems to, it seems to be that direction. I mean, like, you know, first round capital has, was an innovator in this. Um, you know, even 500 stars. We have almost close to, like, 80, 90 staff, and, you know, we have a team of almost 14 distribution, sort of, like, distribution in our terminologies, like, sort of, online marketing sales experts who help our companies and accelerator and, and, sort of, in the portfolio. I mean, this is a massive investment. So, you know, I would say, like, there's a traditional VC, like, the benchmark and the Excels, or the, um, you know, you go down the list of, like, the Mayfields and Greylocks, like, the traditional, sort of, these See, like, that model works really well, right? Um, but there's also sort of the new model, which is sort of these add-on services. Like, I think, like, we're in a world where, like, both, both of these can exist, and both of them sort of bring new stuff to the table, um, or bring good stuff to the table. So I don't think there's, you know, I don't know if there's, I've seen more of a trend in this direction, but I don't know if this is going to be the dominant model. It's still too early to tell.

AI assessment note: “I've seen more of a trend in this direction, but I don't know”

Q And, and what industries or sectors are you most excited about for the future? Where do you see the most potential disruption happening?

A Um, you know, I'm super excited, like, you know, in the AI space, I still think enterprise SaaS, there's still a lot of really interesting things happening in enterprise SaaS. Marketplaces, you know, really the unbundling of a lot of industries, and frankly, sort of corporations, like marketplaces, like, you know, I'll give you an example, I made investment in a company called Skillbridge, which is unbundling basically the, you know, the management consulting industry. Another copy, Doge, invested last year, which is sort of going after, like, the Ad agency, marketing agency business. Um, you know, that part is super interesting. I'm also investing, I'm looking at digital health. I've probably made about seven or eight digital health investments in the last probably six months now. Um, that space is, you know, just like, it's huge, right? It's really a trillion dollar industry alone here in the U.S. Um, you know, the macro trends of people getting older, you know, baby boomers getting older. Um, I'm getting older. So frankly, I'm, this is probably more selfish than anything else. Like it's a massive industry. So, um, and there's a lot of really, you know, and I think there's a lot of like rules and regulations that are now sort of being changed because of like, for example, Obamacare and sort of the affordable health act. Like there's a lot of things that are happening here and…

AI assessment note: “I'm looking at digital health. I've probably made about seven or eight digital health investments”

Q And, and what industries or sectors are you most excited about for the future? Where do you see the most potential disruption happening?

A Um, you know, I'm super excited, like, you know, in the AI space, I still think enterprise SaaS, there's still a lot of really interesting things happening in enterprise SaaS. Marketplaces, you know, really the unbundling of a lot of industries, and frankly, sort of corporations, like marketplaces, like, you know, I'll give you an example, I made investment in a company called Skillbridge, which is unbundling basically the, you know, the management consulting industry. Another copy, Doge, invested last year, which is sort of going after, like, the Ad agency, marketing agency business. Um, you know, that part is super interesting. I'm also investing, I'm looking at digital health. I've probably made about seven or eight digital health investments in the last probably six months now. Um, that space is, you know, just like, it's huge, right? It's really a trillion dollar industry alone here in the U.S. Um, you know, the macro trends of people getting older, you know, baby boomers getting older. Um, I'm getting older. So frankly, I'm, this is probably more selfish than anything else. Like it's a massive industry. So, um, and there's a lot of really, you know, and I think there's a lot of like rules and regulations that are now sort of being changed because of like, for example, Obamacare and sort of the affordable health act. Like there's a lot of things that are happening here and…

AI assessment note: “in the AI space, I still think enterprise SaaS, there's still a lot”

Q And you said you see about 20 startups, say, a week. What are the key metrics that you look at when you, when you review their pitches?

A Um, I think it depends. So I'll give the example, like if it's things like in fintech, um, even I might even look at companies sort of in the prelaunch phase, um, because like, you know, fintech, there's a lot more rules and regulations that they need to sort of clear versus say, if you're like a, a consumer mobile app, like I definitely want to see a lot more traction or if you're like, you know, so for example, like, you know, that old saying is like, you know, or the new saying now is like, you know, ten million downloads is new one million downloads, right? As an example, um, versus saying, Like SaaS. Like, I'm looking like, you know, enterprise SaaS companies. Like, I won't look at a pre-launch sort of like enterprise SaaS company. I want to see something in the range of 10 to sometimes 50,000 dollars a month in recurring revenue. Because, like, these are just super competitive spaces, right? You know, we're very well established in the industry. So a lot of it really depends, right? I think in some industries that are really crowded, I look for attraction in industries that tend to be either newer, like, you know, digital media, sort of like digital health, or things like fintech, Um, I'm gonna look for different things, if that makes sense.

AI assessment note: “I want to see something in the range of 10 to sometimes 50,000 dollars”

Q So what do you think the future holds for 500?

A Um, I mean, yeah, I think, like, as Dave says, like, world domination, right? Like, uh, and I, I think the thesis is there's a lot of smart people everywhere, right? A lot of talented people, and I think the opportunity is, sort of, the education of, sort of, what 500 brings in regards to education in the sense of, like, I think, like, there's a lot of really, really great entrepreneurs, but I think the big, sort of, gap in many, many markets now is really on the investor side, like, investor education and sophistication, and, And so, you know, I think there's a big push from 500 startups where I think it's not so much investing in 500 companies read past that. And I think the goal is maybe investing in five million companies. But now to get to that goal is how do you also sort of like arm and train like 500 VCs to sort of fund these startups? And I think that's sort of the next sort of big push, at least from 500 startups is, you know, we do these things called pre-money, which is basically probably the preeminent, you know, sort of like Angel investing is sort of like, you know, sort of like a VC event that we do every year and trying to take that globally. I think that education piece on the investor side and trying to sort of inject, um, you know, more expertise and more money locally for sort of VC investing, whether it's in Europe or Southeast Asia or even Africa or Middl…

AI assessment note: “what you should expect to see more of over the next like five years.”

Q And you said you see about 20 startups, say, a week. What are the key metrics that you look at when you, when you review their pitches?

A Um, I think it depends. So I'll give the example, like if it's things like in fintech, um, even I might even look at companies sort of in the prelaunch phase, um, because like, you know, fintech, there's a lot more rules and regulations that they need to sort of clear versus say, if you're like a, a consumer mobile app, like I definitely want to see a lot more traction or if you're like, you know, so for example, like, you know, that old saying is like, you know, or the new saying now is like, you know, ten million downloads is new one million downloads, right? As an example, um, versus saying, Like SaaS. Like, I'm looking like, you know, enterprise SaaS companies. Like, I won't look at a pre-launch sort of like enterprise SaaS company. I want to see something in the range of 10 to sometimes 50,000 dollars a month in recurring revenue. Because, like, these are just super competitive spaces, right? You know, we're very well established in the industry. So a lot of it really depends, right? I think in some industries that are really crowded, I look for attraction in industries that tend to be either newer, like, you know, digital media, sort of like digital health, or things like fintech, Um, I'm gonna look for different things, if that makes sense.

AI assessment note: “I want to see something in the range of 10 to sometimes 50,000 dollars”

Q So what do you think the future holds for 500?

A Um, I mean, yeah, I think, like, as Dave says, like, world domination, right? Like, uh, and I, I think the thesis is there's a lot of smart people everywhere, right? A lot of talented people, and I think the opportunity is, sort of, the education of, sort of, what 500 brings in regards to education in the sense of, like, I think, like, there's a lot of really, really great entrepreneurs, but I think the big, sort of, gap in many, many markets now is really on the investor side, like, investor education and sophistication, and, And so, you know, I think there's a big push from 500 startups where I think it's not so much investing in 500 companies read past that. And I think the goal is maybe investing in five million companies. But now to get to that goal is how do you also sort of like arm and train like 500 VCs to sort of fund these startups? And I think that's sort of the next sort of big push, at least from 500 startups is, you know, we do these things called pre-money, which is basically probably the preeminent, you know, sort of like Angel investing is sort of like, you know, sort of like a VC event that we do every year and trying to take that globally. I think that education piece on the investor side and trying to sort of inject, um, you know, more expertise and more money locally for sort of VC investing, whether it's in Europe or Southeast Asia or even Africa or Middl…

AI assessment note: “I think that's sort of what you should expect to see more of”

Q And coming from 10 years at Yahoo!, you could have had your pick of VCs to join, really, and, and so what, what is it about 500 that attracted you, and why do you believe that the opportunity really lies in this very early stage of investing?

A Um, yeah, I mean, that's a, that's a great question, and, you know, number one, I think I come from a, an operator, but really, sort of, a really sales and marketing focused background, and this is something that 500 startups, like, really, really values, um, versus, say, other programs or other, sort of, VC firms. Um, I like the fact that the very, they were very international, so all my roles at Yahoo were international focused roles, and so 500 is one of the few, sort of, Silicon Valley VC firms that, sort of, invests globally, um, and that's, Was super attractive. Plus I, I've known these guys now, you know, coming in, I, I've been sort of hanging out with them for almost close to two years. So I knew a lot of the partnership very, very well. So it's kind of like just joining a bunch of friends and, and I, I, I like the mission of what they're trying to do, the ambition and the mission of what they were trying to do. So, um, I think that, that for me was super attractive.

AI assessment note: “this is something that 500 startups, like, really, really values”

Q Absolutely. And, and your 500 Startups page describes you as the recovering Yahoo exec. So, what was your kind of takeaways from Yahoo? What was your biggest learning curves from From working in such a big and great organization, and how did you see them change over the 10 years that you were there?

A Well, you know, when I joined, we were probably about, about 3000 people, so watching sort of this company scale to, I think it was about 15,000 people when I left, um, I mean, just fascinating, right? Like, watching a company go through high growth, and of course, like, the growing pains, um, that comes along with it, um, but of course, like, just to be honest, like, all the amazing people that I, I worked with, um, who are now, like, all over the industry, right? Some of them are VCs, uh, some of them, like, run very, very large organizations, you know, somebody who, One of my good mentors, he's a VC now in India, um, another, my, my boss of my, the boss of my boss, who's also a very good mentor, Gary Coleman, um, is now sort of running BuzzFeed, right? He's like CEO and president of BuzzFeed, so kind of, you know, like almost everywhere in the industry, like there's an ex-Yahoo person, so the alumni has been fantastic, um, and this is all over the world, so it's been, um, you know, there was a lot of changes, and I think sort of just watching and learning from just, and being, Being part of something that's growing is just, it's, it's really an unbelievable sort of like career sort of experience, to be honest. So I felt very honored.

AI assessment note: “watching sort of this company scale to, I think it was about 15,000 people”

Q What have been the biggest learning curves, maybe surprising elements or challenging elements? What's it been for you?

A Um, I'm realizing that, that sort of becoming a great investor, I think is really hard. Um, and, and I think sort of the cycles of learning of just like, just, I think it's, it's, for me, I think it's really amazing that there are arrogant VCs out there. I think, think that this is a business that is incredibly humbling, um, and humbling in the sense that you're wrong most of the time, right? So, um, if I'm honest, like, I feel like I'm still, I'm a complete novice in this business, um, Um, and so I feel like I'm learning stuff like all the time here. Um, and so I think it's really, really hard to be a great investor, um, to really develop the instincts, um, to really just have a good thesis and to, to just like, uh, just to risk being wrong most of the time, right? So I think that's been, been sort of a great learning. I think like just, this is, it's being a VC. I couldn't remember who said this, but I said being an investor is like, it's not a hard life, but being a great investor is really hard. Um, you know, and, and I think for me, it's just like how I think about this is it's a service business. So like, even if I don't invest in a company, when I take a meeting, I want them to walk out of the meeting going, Hey, that was helpful or interesting. And, and that wasn't a complete waste of my time. Like if, if that happens, like I think that's, that means I'm doing my job.

AI assessment note: “becoming a great investor, I think is really hard... incredibly humbling”

Q What have been the biggest learning curves, maybe surprising elements or challenging elements? What's it been for you?

A Um, I'm realizing that, that sort of becoming a great investor, I think is really hard. Um, and, and I think sort of the cycles of learning of just like, just, I think it's, it's, for me, I think it's really amazing that there are arrogant VCs out there. I think, think that this is a business that is incredibly humbling, um, and humbling in the sense that you're wrong most of the time, right? So, um, if I'm honest, like, I feel like I'm still, I'm a complete novice in this business, um, Um, and so I feel like I'm learning stuff like all the time here. Um, and so I think it's really, really hard to be a great investor, um, to really develop the instincts, um, to really just have a good thesis and to, to just like, uh, just to risk being wrong most of the time, right? So I think that's been, been sort of a great learning. I think like just, this is, it's being a VC. I couldn't remember who said this, but I said being an investor is like, it's not a hard life, but being a great investor is really hard. Um, you know, and, and I think for me, it's just like how I think about this is it's a service business. So like, even if I don't invest in a company, when I take a meeting, I want them to walk out of the meeting going, Hey, that was helpful or interesting. And, and that wasn't a complete waste of my time. Like if, if that happens, like I think that's, that means I'm doing my job.

AI assessment note: “this is a business that is incredibly humbling, um, and humbling in the sense that you're wrong”

Q And coming from 10 years at Yahoo!, you could have had your pick of VCs to join, really, and, and so what, what is it about 500 that attracted you, and why do you believe that the opportunity really lies in this very early stage of investing?

A Um, yeah, I mean, that's a, that's a great question, and, you know, number one, I think I come from a, an operator, but really, sort of, a really sales and marketing focused background, and this is something that 500 startups, like, really, really values, um, versus, say, other programs or other, sort of, VC firms. Um, I like the fact that the very, they were very international, so all my roles at Yahoo were international focused roles, and so 500 is one of the few, sort of, Silicon Valley VC firms that, sort of, invests globally, um, and that's, Was super attractive. Plus I, I've known these guys now, you know, coming in, I, I've been sort of hanging out with them for almost close to two years. So I knew a lot of the partnership very, very well. So it's kind of like just joining a bunch of friends and, and I, I, I like the mission of what they're trying to do, the ambition and the mission of what they were trying to do. So, um, I think that, that for me was super attractive.

AI assessment note: “500 is one of the few, sort of, Silicon Valley VC firms that, sort of, invests globally”

Q And you mentioned there about your mentoring at 500 startups at a number of different accelerators around the world. What do you think the mentoring process gives you as an investor? Does it really, uh, enable you to see things in a different light with, without the financial kind of involvement of investing?

A Yeah, I think it's, it's helpful. I mean, I think if you see the big change in Silicon Valley, you're seeing sort of like operator as VC, right? So many, you know, many VCs now, you know, the most prominent being Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz of Andreessen Horowitz, like many of these new sort of up and coming sort of like, uh, venture capitalist Mark Suster, you know, many of these people are basically used to be entrepreneurs or used to be operators. And I think it's helpful. Um, you know, and frankly, the mentoring, um, is incredibly Fun, because, like, you're learning stuff, too, in the beginning. I thought I was just kind of doing 500 a favor, and I realized, like, I learned just as much, probably more than I was, um, than I, than I was sort of able to sort of give back, I think. At least that's how I felt, which is why I did it so much.

AI assessment note: “I realized, like, I learned just as much, probably more than I was”

Q And you mentioned there about your mentoring at 500 startups at a number of different accelerators around the world. What do you think the mentoring process gives you as an investor? Does it really, uh, enable you to see things in a different light with, without the financial kind of involvement of investing?

A Yeah, I think it's, it's helpful. I mean, I think if you see the big change in Silicon Valley, you're seeing sort of like operator as VC, right? So many, you know, many VCs now, you know, the most prominent being Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz of Andreessen Horowitz, like many of these new sort of up and coming sort of like, uh, venture capitalist Mark Suster, you know, many of these people are basically used to be entrepreneurs or used to be operators. And I think it's helpful. Um, you know, and frankly, the mentoring, um, is incredibly Fun, because, like, you're learning stuff, too, in the beginning. I thought I was just kind of doing 500 a favor, and I realized, like, I learned just as much, probably more than I was, um, than I, than I was sort of able to sort of give back, I think. At least that's how I felt, which is why I did it so much.

AI assessment note: “mentoring, um, is incredibly Fun, because, like, you're learning stuff, too”

Q So this leads me to ask, what's the admissions process like to, to get investment from 500 startups? I mean, what criteria do you look for when decision making?

A Yeah, I mean, so, I mean, it's slightly different between the, the, the accelerator and the seed fund, but the, the reality is, is just that, you know, we get accused of sort of spray and pray, and I actually think it's not really true, because I look at anywhere between, like, a dozen to maybe, like, 30 companies a week, either for the accelerator or for the seed fund, but for the accelerator, for example, the numbers, I mean, for batch 30, you know, for batch 14, which is in process, and I, I run the San Francisco-based accelerator as well, Besides sort of being a partner for the investment partner for the fund, um, you know, we looked at over close to 1100 companies to get down to 36 companies. So, you know, we're fairly selective on the accelerator side. For the CFund side, like, I'm talking anywhere between 12 to 30 companies a week, and I might make, like, one, maybe two investments. Like, you know, I'd say it's probably an averaging about one investment probably every two weeks. So, you know, we're still fairly selective. It's just, you know, I don't, I don't think we're randomly selecting, investing in any company that comes our way. At least I don't think most of the partnership is doing that, and I definitely am not.

AI assessment note: “we get accused of sort of spray and pray, and I actually think it's not”

Q Absolutely. And, and your 500 Startups page describes you as the recovering Yahoo exec. So, what was your kind of takeaways from Yahoo? What was your biggest learning curves from From working in such a big and great organization, and how did you see them change over the 10 years that you were there?

A Well, you know, when I joined, we were probably about, about 3000 people, so watching sort of this company scale to, I think it was about 15,000 people when I left, um, I mean, just fascinating, right? Like, watching a company go through high growth, and of course, like, the growing pains, um, that comes along with it, um, but of course, like, just to be honest, like, all the amazing people that I, I worked with, um, who are now, like, all over the industry, right? Some of them are VCs, uh, some of them, like, run very, very large organizations, you know, somebody who, One of my good mentors, he's a VC now in India, um, another, my, my boss of my, the boss of my boss, who's also a very good mentor, Gary Coleman, um, is now sort of running BuzzFeed, right? He's like CEO and president of BuzzFeed, so kind of, you know, like almost everywhere in the industry, like there's an ex-Yahoo person, so the alumni has been fantastic, um, and this is all over the world, so it's been, um, you know, there was a lot of changes, and I think sort of just watching and learning from just, and being, Being part of something that's growing is just, it's, it's really an unbelievable sort of like career sort of experience, to be honest. So I felt very honored.

AI assessment note: “watching sort of this company scale to, I think it was about 15,000 people”

Q Not done yet. Does this prove that the 500 model is successfully scaling?

A Yeah, I, I mean... I think a lot of it is, you know, you know, I think we have this master plan and sometimes I think it's sort of opportunistic as well too. It's just when we, we happen to know people that we just think are awesome and they happen to sort of want to work with us and do something with us. It's like we will, we will be opportunistic, but I think it is a, you know, this is Dave's master plan from the beginning. Um, even when I, you know, I remember having this conversation with him, we were doing geeks on the plane in Eastern Europe back in 2012. And I remember sitting with him, sort of chatting with him over sort of lunch and Sort of like, you know, back in 2012, like I, I remember walking and going like, wow, this guy's a madman. He's either a madman or a genius, but like just, I think the vision of sort of like where, and you know, where he wants like 500 to go is just like really exciting. So, um, seems to be working. I guess we'll see, right? Still early days. It's only, we've only been around for five years, and I've only been with the company a little bit less than two years now. So, um, I, I can't say I sort of am an expert, but sort of watching where this company's grown in the last two years, um, um, it's, it's amazing to me.

AI assessment note: “seems to be working. I guess we'll see, right? Still early days.”

Q So this leads me to ask, what's the admissions process like to, to get investment from 500 startups? I mean, what criteria do you look for when decision making?

A Yeah, I mean, so, I mean, it's slightly different between the, the, the accelerator and the seed fund, but the, the reality is, is just that, you know, we get accused of sort of spray and pray, and I actually think it's not really true, because I look at anywhere between, like, a dozen to maybe, like, 30 companies a week, either for the accelerator or for the seed fund, but for the accelerator, for example, the numbers, I mean, for batch 30, you know, for batch 14, which is in process, and I, I run the San Francisco-based accelerator as well, Besides sort of being a partner for the investment partner for the fund, um, you know, we looked at over close to 1100 companies to get down to 36 companies. So, you know, we're fairly selective on the accelerator side. For the CFund side, like, I'm talking anywhere between 12 to 30 companies a week, and I might make, like, one, maybe two investments. Like, you know, I'd say it's probably an averaging about one investment probably every two weeks. So, you know, we're still fairly selective. It's just, you know, I don't, I don't think we're randomly selecting, investing in any company that comes our way. At least I don't think most of the partnership is doing that, and I definitely am not.

AI assessment note: “we get accused of sort of spray and pray, and I actually think it's not really true”

Q Not done yet. Does this prove that the 500 model is successfully scaling?

A Yeah, I, I mean... I think a lot of it is, you know, you know, I think we have this master plan and sometimes I think it's sort of opportunistic as well too. It's just when we, we happen to know people that we just think are awesome and they happen to sort of want to work with us and do something with us. It's like we will, we will be opportunistic, but I think it is a, you know, this is Dave's master plan from the beginning. Um, even when I, you know, I remember having this conversation with him, we were doing geeks on the plane in Eastern Europe back in 2012. And I remember sitting with him, sort of chatting with him over sort of lunch and Sort of like, you know, back in 2012, like I, I remember walking and going like, wow, this guy's a madman. He's either a madman or a genius, but like just, I think the vision of sort of like where, and you know, where he wants like 500 to go is just like really exciting. So, um, seems to be working. I guess we'll see, right? Still early days. It's only, we've only been around for five years, and I've only been with the company a little bit less than two years now. So, um, I, I can't say I sort of am an expert, but sort of watching where this company's grown in the last two years, um, um, it's, it's amazing to me.

AI assessment note: “seems to be working. I guess we'll see, right? Still early days.”